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Single end Locked Brummel

Many times I need to make a locked brummel eye splice with bury using only a single end of the rope. Usually this is necessary when I want the eye splice but do not know the exact total length of rope needed. I want to make the eye splice with the locked brummel and bury, pull it tight and then pull the rope off the spool and determine the total length needed against the actual site use. Previously I have been forced to do either:

use a plain bury splice with stitching, or

use more rope than really needed and discard the excess. This option really hurts at the price per foot for good dyneema rope.

Following the directions that Samson Ropes has, it is necessary that both ends of the rope be available to make the splice.

New England Ropes has a method for making a locked brummel splice using only one end of the rope. I have tried this method several times. Maybe on large diameter rope it works, but for the small diameter rope that we use for hammocking, 1/8" and less, I have found it impossible to undo the pull through as in step #8 in the linked page. I usually end up totally destroying the strands at the pull through in trying to undo the pull through.

In going through TeeDee's copy of Brion Toss's book on working rope, book 5, Basic Braided Splices, I found his "McDonald Brummel" splice. The McDonald Brummel splice is a method for making a locked brummel using a single end of the rope. The McDonald Brummel splice is actually a chain of locked brummels, one right after another.

What I find exciting about the McDonald Brummel isn't the locked brummel itself, but their method of making the locked brummel. It uses only one end of the rope.

It is much easier and faster than the method that New England Ropes describes. It does involve inserting the rope through itself and pulling through as described by New England Ropes, but then you do not have to undo it and pull the rope back out from itself.

This method allows me to make a locked brummel with bury eye splice quickly and easily using just one end of the rope. I can then pull only what is needed off the spool.

I have emailed Brion Toss for permission to scan the pages from his book and post here. I received a reply and they said that Brion was deep in a rigging job in Florida and would not be able to reply for some time. They had sent my request to their lawyer also.

If they give me permission I will scan and post the pages.

If they say no, then I will do the McDonald splice step by step and using the scanner, make images for posting. I think scanning their illustrations would be the better option since the illustrations very clearly depict what you are doing. Their illustrations would be much better for that than images from either the scanner or even a digital camera since it is hard to distinguish one part of the rope from another part in such images.

For those that have the book and want to learn to do the McDonald Brummel, it is listed in the table of contents.

Oldgringo found an illustration of the McDonald Splice here. Scroll down to post #40.

Brion Toss published his book containing the McDonald Splice in Feb. 2004 and the post in the above link was done on 7-12-2008. I'm kind of disappointed in the poster in that they do not give explicit credit to Brion Toss for previously publishing the Splice.

Brion actually gives credit to his illustrator, Margie McDonald, for developing the splice and names it after her. That's class.

I still think the drawings done by Margie McDonald for Brion Toss are better at illustrating the splice. It is easier to discern different parts of the rope and where the eye loop gets tucked in photo #4 of the post.

If Brion gives me permission, I will still scan and put the scans in the gallery and post them here.

This Video is a little long (two or three parts) but actually shows a very clear step by step version of what you're talking about, I believe. I had found this on the Colligo Marine website while looking for info about soft shackles, and tossed it in my bookmarks (they are actually embedded on the Colligo Marine site as sidebar tutorials) but sorta forgot about it. When I first started splicing (I say that like it wasn't just a month ago) I tried one, but it didn't look as nice as the brummel using both ends pulled through. Then again, I think it was the second splice I ever tried, so that may have had something to do with it.

This Video is a little long (two or three parts) but actually shows a very clear step by step version of what you're talking about, I believe. I had found this on the Colligo Marine website while looking for info about soft shackles, and tossed it in my bookmarks (they are actually embedded on the Colligo Marine site as sidebar tutorials) but sorta forgot about it. When I first started splicing (I say that like it wasn't just a month ago) I tried one, but it didn't look as nice as the brummel using both ends pulled through. Then again, I think it was the second splice I ever tried, so that may have had something to do with it.

New England Ropes has a method for making a locked brummel splice using only one end of the rope. I have tried this method several times. Maybe on large diameter rope it works, but for the small diameter rope that we use for hammocking, 1/8" and less, I have found it impossible to undo the pull through as in step #8 in the linked page. I usually end up totally destroying the strands at the pull through in trying to undo the pull through.

Trying this method with dynaglide I had the same problem, but solved it by putting a loop of heavy thread through each of the loops before I turned them inside out. It made it easier to pull just the strands needed to turn the loops right side out again.

Trying this method with dynaglide I had the same problem, but solved it by putting a loop of heavy thread through each of the loops before I turned them inside out. It made it easier to pull just the strands needed to turn the loops right side out again.

Thanks, that solves the problem, but then using the McDonald method avoids the problem altogether.